Coronavirus Support for our Clients and Entertainers

We’ve been looking after entertainers and the people and companies that book them since 1999.  While it’s true our industry has never faced a situation as tough as this in living memory, we continue to support our community to the very best of our ability.

As we face the challenges together we thought it would be useful to provide some helpful information and to answer the most frequently asked questions in one place.

To protect our team and as instructed by the UK government, we’re currently working from home. As our software and systems are cloud based, we’re well set up to cope with this but we’re incredibly busy at the moment so inevitably our responses will be slower than usual.

For now, we can’t accept phone calls as we’re concerned that important details may be missed, so please communicate via email for the time being and we’ll have a record of everything we discuss in writing.

All new enquiries are still being handled by our website and your enquiry will be dealt with quickly and efficiently.  If you’re interested in more than one entertainer, add them to your wish list and then you’ll only need to give us your details once.

FAQ’s

Can I reschedule my event?

Yes you can. If the entertainer you booked originally is available on your new date, we will happily transfer your reservation fee to the new date and issue new contracts free of charge.

If your original entertainer is not available on your new date, we’ll be happy to help you find an alternative from our roster of superb artists and allocate your reservation to the new band or entertainer again, free of charge.

However if you reschedule, find your original entertainer is not available and don’t wish to book an alternative artist from our roster your reservation fee won’t be refunded.

Can I cancel my event if it is affected by the Corona virus?

In short, yes.

No cancellation charges will be applicable if you do need to cancel, however as we’ve already provided you with a service, reservation fees will not be refundable under any circumstances.  If you’ve paid the full balance for your booking it will be refunded immediately upon request, less your original reservation fee.

Should I check directly with my band/entertainer to see if they are available on my new date?

For a fast and accurate response, please only use Hireaband to check availability if you need to reschedule your date. If you check directly with your entertainer and for whatever reason they give you inaccurate information, Hireaband will not be liable. The situation is very fluid and availability can change quickly so please check with us first.

Are there still plenty of bands and entertainers to choose from?

With so many spring and summer 2020 dates being rescheduled, availability for late 2020, all of 2021 and much of 2022 is becoming more and more limited.  Many bands and artists on our roster were already fully booked for the prime weekend dates in 2021 – so we’d encourage you to book quickly if you haven’t already done so.

We’d also strongly recommend that you consider midweek dates and the traditionally quieter months. We know this will largely be driven by the availability of your venue, but don’t think that because your event is taking place on a Thursday in February you’ll have a lot of artists to choose from – that’s not the case – so don’t hesitate to make a booking as soon as you have your new date arranged.

And Finally

We know how much effort and emotion are put into organising events, particularly weddings.  Months, sometimes years of planning have been ruined by this horrible virus. We completely get it, and we’ll do everything we can to make rescheduling your big day as stress free as possible.

We’re a small family business at heart and like every single business in the events and wedding industries, we’ve been hit hard.  Many of the entertainers we represent have seen their incomes disappear overnight and a few are facing real hardship.

If you can reschedule rather than cancel, you’ll be directly helping hundreds, if not thousands of hard working musicians and entertainers. If you can be patient with us as we try to deliver our service to you under incredibly difficult circumstances, we’d be most grateful.

Behind every email or phone call is another human being each facing the same issues as everyone else and the same threats to their own health and those of loved ones. We’re not a faceless multinational with shareholders in tax havens, but a network of small local offices staffed by people just like you.

From all of us, to all of you, take care, bear with us, be kind to everyone and when this is all over let’s never forget the selfless work of our frontline NHS and emergency services staff. Compared to what they face, we’re privileged and extraordinarily lucky to work in an industry that is based on fun and celebration; weddings and events are not life and death which puts things into some perspective. 

To all of you who work on the frontline, fighting this virus and protecting our families and communities, we salute you!